Following the closure of Lufthansa CityLine this past Saturday, its parent company, Lufthansa, has confirmed the cancellation of flights from Munich to Ljubljana and Belgrade until at least Friday, April 24, with a further review expected this week. Services to Ljubljana beyond April 24 and up to June 1 have been zeroed out, meaning they remain visible in the Global Distribution System but are not available for booking. All flights between Munich and the Slovenian capital had been scheduled to operate under the carrier’s CityLine subsidiary this summer. In May alone, this accounts for sixty flights (or 120 including return services), totalling 11.712 seats.
Services between Munich and Belgrade have similarly been zeroed out until June. However, a limited number of flights originally scheduled to be operated by Lufthansa mainline remain bookable and are expected to operate. These include services on April 26, as well as May 1, 3, 10, 14, 17, 22, 24 and 31. In total, 74 flights were scheduled to be operated by Lufthansa CityLine to Belgrade in May (or 148 including return services), amounting to 20.268 seats.
All of the airline’s services between Munich and Rijeka, as well as Munich and Tivat, have also been zeroed out for May. A total of four and six flights had been planned respectively (or eight and twelve including return services). Lufthansa CityLine operations in May from Munich to Dubrovnik and Zadar (eleven flights each), as well as Pula (seven flights) and Split (two flights), have also been zeroed out. However, these four Croatian cities have significantly more Lufthansa mainline operations, meaning connectivity to Munich will continue to be maintained at a higher volume.
Lufthansa itself has not commented on the fate of its Munich flights. Services beyond June 1 remain scheduled as CityLine operations and have yet to be updated to reflect the new market reality. Ljubljana Airport has said it has not received any information from Lufthansa regarding the Munich service. While the airline is likely to deploy alternative aircraft on some affected routes, it is unlikely to be able to replace all scheduled services this summer. Lufthansa CityLine had been due to operate flights from Munich to 71 cities in May.
Please note that the information in this article is accurate as of its publication on April 20 at 09:00 CEST. Given the evolving nature of the situation, details may change and will be updated accordingly.
Let me get this straight. They shut down their subsidiary with 2 day notice. They have absolutely no plan what to do with flights or passengers once they close the subsidiary. They could not be bothered to even communicate with affected airports what will happen. Well done Lufthansa! Now go buy and ruin yet another European airline for which you don’t seem to have any shortage of money for.
ReplyDeleteFully agree.
DeleteNo worries, they will create a few new airlines to cover for the demand - Lufthansa Airlines City, Lufthansa Air City Lines, Lufthansa Line City Air and the brand new leisure carrier Lufthansa Find Out.
DeleteThis Find Out subsidiary will eventually become Lufthansa FAFO
DeleteHow the mighty have fallen.
DeleteLH Group made €5 billion in profits last year. They are far from being the fallen one.
Delete^ Especially since they made 5 billion, this kind of behaviour is crazy. I know you love them, but this is indefencible.
DeleteWhy when this model makes them money
DeleteThey don't seem to share your optimism that this model will bring them money going forward considering they just shut down a subsidiary with over 25+ aircraft over night, announced long haul cuts and announced that European network will also be cut in winter.
DeletePoruka letačkom osoblju u cijeloj grupi, do kad više ucjene i prijetnje štrajkom pred sezonu?! Nema toga, nije vam ovo socijalizam!
DeleteOno što Vi zovete "Ucjene i prijetnje" oblici su sindikalnog djelovanja u KAPITALIZMU, u čijoj trenutno aktualnoj ultraliberalnoj formi "letačko osoblje" i ostali zaposlenici aviokompanija doslovno moraju razmišljati da li će sutra moći svojoj obitelji staviti kruh na stol, dok se korporativne perjanice iz uprava, baš kao i partijski aparatčici u socijalizmu, nagrađuju milijunima eura za uništavanje tih istih kompanija. A Vas treba biti sram onoga što ste napisali
Delete+1000
DeleteAnon 10.22
DeleteI disagree with you. I think they are optimistic because they already have Lufthansa City. They will eventually switch flights to them, they have an alternative.
5 euro billion in revenue but 6 billion euros in wages
DeleteYes, i'm sure Lufthansa City planes were sitting idle and will now be able to take over all City Line flights. These cancellations are for the fun of it.
DeleteImagine if an ex-Yu airline had cancelled or left so many flights up in the air. There would absolute pandemonium here.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly.
Delete+1
DeleteThe Western World is nowadays more Balkans than people would think. Especially Germany is far away from being the Germany we knew from the 1980s
DeleteI work with all Europe. One of my favourite regions to work with in terms of quality AND flexibility is Eastern Europe.
Thank you for keeping us updated about this. I’m really surprised this isn’t a bigger thing in the media. It’s actually really huge and can have a huge impact on airports and passengers
ReplyDeleteBecause most media have no clue what the difference between Lufthansa mainline and cityline is, let alone identify exactly which flights are operated by which. Completely agree with you, thanks admin.
DeleteAfter being a hardcore LH loyalist for over a decade, I stopped flying them in early 2023 after another series of strikes and switched all of my business to AF-KLM. I like to know that I will actually travel when I need to, and honestly I've never looked back. Shame what has become of a once great airline.
ReplyDeleteSmart move and I agree. LH has gone downhill. Last week with 4 days of strikes and City Line closure was really crazy.
DeleteKL is far from being a reliable airline, they also tend to cancel flights.
DeleteLike you I also switched from LH but to OS. They are far more reliable and have a fantastic European network.
KL does struggle with winter operations (including the meltdown in AMS in early Jan), but I've never had them cancel a flight on me for operational reasons. In any case, I prefer to risk an occasional change of schedule to these multi-day LH pandemoniums.
DeleteWell AMS tends to have issues with flight movements which tend to force KL to adjust their flights.
DeleteVIE and OS are far more reliable than KL or LH.
Putting JU aside, KLM is the best case at BEG maybe for last ten years.
DeleteAgree about KL in BEG.
DeleteIf we only compare KL with AF and BA in BEG we see how successful KL is.
And I congratulate them.
Are they successful? I think they are doing just ok in BEG. They had double daily for a while now and they didn't bring back the B73W and B738 like they had a few summers ago.
DeleteI think they are doing just ok in BEG.
^ no, they are not successful. They fly 2 daily for the fun of it. To waste time. Can you imagine an airline being successful in BEG? The thought
DeleteI said they are doing ok not that they are unsuccessful. Please read more carefully
DeleteAwaiting passenger data and financial results on their BEG route that you based your "doing ok" claim.
DeleteNo need. I already listed my reasons but since you are unable to process information here it is again.
DeleteKLM is not really growing in BEG. They had double daily on the E2 for a while. They didn't bring back the B7W and B738 like they did in the past. They also didn't add them this summer, they kept the same as last year.
Do you have passenger data and their financial results to prove your point?
^ thanks for your expert opinion. I would still love to see the passenger and financial data for your baseless conclusion. But good thing we have you as an expert. 2 daily is an absolute disaster for BEG and the route is 'ok' and 'poor'. They are making no money and flying it to waste time. In fact most routes from Belgrade are either 'ok' or unprofitable. We read it from experts constantly. And the long haul ones are political and charters for Chinese workers.
DeleteI like how BEG airport simply removed the Munich flights like they never existed in the schedule :D no status update that they are cancelled just removed them all togeather
ReplyDeleteThey do that every time some flights being cancelled. Not sure what is their problem, but obviously exists
DeleteTrue that, they should put the cancelled flight on the list... I saw it for the first time when ME carriers cancelled all their flight due to US-Iran war from 28th of February
DeleteWho would have thought this would happen with flights to Munich.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable
Deleteor who would have thought that Lufthansa would be such an unreliable partner for airports.
DeleteTime for JU to react.
ReplyDeleteThat's easier said than done. JU already had a set summer network. Finding an aircraft just to operate this route probably isn't easy.
DeleteWe will see. They have generally been very flexible and quick to react. Of course this is likely to be temporary and LH will eventually restore these flights.
DeleteJU was agile in the past, but not any more... So I doubt
DeleteThey aren't anymore? They announced Alicante and increased Spain routes this year when Wizz Air announced new Spain ops, they launched Geneva when easyjet started reducing the route last year and they have 9 new routes this year. Sorry, but they are only not agile in your head.
DeleteI would be very surprised if JU didn't react.
Delete@09,08
It wouldn't be the first time that JU adds in a destination last minute. I would assume a weaker demand for charters this summer due to the ME situation so this could open up some capacity for JU.
@09,12
If JU is quick enough to react, it'll make it harder for LH to return with the frequencies it previously had.
@10,31
A couple of flights a week isn't too much trouble to throw into the schedules, especially last minute. If JU does return to MUC I would assume it will be at least daily, which isn't easy to do.
@10,35
Flying into MUC doesn't make JU a LH feeder. They after all fly double daily to FRA.
^ Fully agree!
Delete@ anon 09:08
DeleteSoften demand for Cyprus and Turkey due to ME/Iran crisis could make a couple of weekly rotations to MUC possible?
Lufthansa will be back on these routes. It's just a question of whather they will be able to get their act together to get these flights resumed this summer.
ReplyDeleteWhat are they going to do with passengers? I get they will reroute them on other LH group airlines and to FRA but peak season is coming up. With flights full how are they going to find enough seats to get them to their destination?
ReplyDeleteThe timing couldn’t be worse
DeleteProbably those transiting through MUC will be rerouted via FRA, ZRH and VIE primarily. The O&D pax will be harder to reroute.
DeleteThey are rerouting passengers to Ljubljana via FRA and sometimes via ZRH. P2P as well... MUC-FRA-LJU
DeleteWhat are the load factors if they are able to reroute all passebgers on scheduled FRA flight
DeleteThey spread passengers across the LH flights (3 daily) and LX flights (3 daily); likewise, the morning flight at 10:50 to ZRH is now often operated with an A320/321, as well as afternoon flight at 2:25 to FRA.
DeleteThis is so irresponsible that I am speechless.
ReplyDeleteStill wonder if it has anything to do with strikes in LH.
+1
DeleteThis is a major blow for Ljubljana. Losing Munich connectivity, even temporarily, is not something that can be easily replaced, especially given how important it is for onward connections.
ReplyDeleteIs there any other airline that could step in on this route?
DeleteNo need for MUC. As long as we have premium line LJU-FRA with premium LH we don't need other routes. Bravo LHG!
DeleteLufthansa clearly underestimated the impact of shutting down CityLine. You don’t just remove that many regional aircraft and expect everything to run smoothly.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I think LH realized that shutting them down cost them less than to keep them running. CityLine was not profitable for them.
DeleteSo quickly shutting it down shows they were in some kind of rush.
DeleteThe power of LH was that they can keep non profitable routes (usually through the subsidiaries) so they can earn on transfers and long haul and close the doors for competitors. And I highly doubt multiple daily Munich operations are not profitable from Belgrade or Ljubljana...
DeleteI wouldn’t be surprised if some of these “temporary” cancellations become permanent.
ReplyDeleteLufthansa’s silence on the issue is worrying. You’d expect at least some clarity given the scale of the disruption.
ReplyDeleteIt is too early for JU to launch MUC?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very temporary disruption, plus one doesn't simply launch flights to a massive hub such as MUC.
DeleteThey don't?
DeleteReally? How come dozens of other airlines fly hundreds of routes to MUC?
I would think that if JU can make Valencia or Naples work with A320s so can MUC with E-jets.
DeletePlease learn to read. I said it wasn't simple to launch on such short notice, not that establishing flights was impossible.
DeleteIf they can’t replace CityLine capacity, expect higher fares across the board.
ReplyDeleteThe prices have already gone crazy. Looked at an intra European route for several dates this May with LH from Belgrade (via FRA)and its over 900 euros!
DeleteSomeone needs to pay for this mess.
DeleteJust I am not sure who will be so stupid to pay ticket BEG-FRA-MUC-FRA-BEG 900 euros if you have BEG-FMM-BEG for 45 eur.
Almost nobody would pay that of course.
DeleteSpeaking of payment, result is likely to be few milion euros bonus paid to CEO for his fantastic achievements
Delete@ anon 09:45
DeleteI'll bet those BEG FMM 45 Eur flights won't stay 45 Eur too long after this.
Not a good look for Lufthansa. Reliability and network stability used to be their strong points.
ReplyDeleteMunich is a key hub for the region. This is a shame
ReplyDeleteKey hub is still FRA.
DeleteMUC has a metropolitan area of 7 million people. Plus LOTS of gastos from our region.
DeleteAnd it is a much nicer airport to connect than FRA.
This feels like a network pulled apart overnight. Hard to see how Lufthansa can patch this up anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteThe scale of cancellations is staggering when you look at the seat numbers.
ReplyDeletewill LH wet-lease capacity to cover some of the gaps or just accept the shortfall?
ReplyDeleteDoubt it
DeleteLogic says that they will substitute the flights to be operated by another subsidiary of the group. I refuse to believe that they are so stupid to take these actions without a plan. If they do so, they risk losing transfers market from many airports.
ReplyDeleteSo far it seems they have absolutely no plan. The zeroed out flights in May are a good indication they will be officially cancelled in a few days.
DeleteJasmin has a number of underused shiny new planes that could backfill the void left in a country reliant on inbund tourism. Or is it too early?
ReplyDeleteWay too early.
DeleteOU is amazing. Have 17 daily flights to MUC and FRA. No delays or cancelations. LH struggle to survive, while our lion keep working sucessfully
DeleteActually it was reported here this month that OU has cut some MUC flights and reduced capacity on ZAG-MUC from Airbus to ATR.
DeleteJasmin should reduce MUC now. I think that would be smart move. Advice for him. Thank you Jasmin
DeleteYour comments are stupid. CityLine does not fly to Zagreb so there are no cancellations there.
DeleteYou comment is stupid, bc you didnt realize that Zag could pick up LJU flights
Delete90% did not select Minken himself but their business pays that trips.
ReplyDeletePassengers need to wake up to themselves and see the reality, and make their own choice airline to fly. My advice, don’t fly Lufthansa!!
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThey can just move the aircraft to Lufthansa City Airlines (VL). It doesn't make sense to have so many same-same but different subsidiaries, anyway.
ReplyDeleteThey can't just move them. Those aircraft are not sitting around doing nothing. They are already scheduled on many flights.
DeleteSo if they just shut down a subsidurary with 25+ aircraft, what are these planes going to do over summer, surely some one could lease them from LH
ReplyDeleteI’m at the Munich airport right now and honestly I have never seen is so empty…
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, Air Dolomiti will take over. As from Graz and other smaller airports like all mentioned here that lost City Line operatins.
ReplyDeleteAnd Air Dolomiti has planes sitting to take over over 70 routes? As we can see for the moment, no one is taking over and flights are beo
DeleteIng cancelled.
In may almost all LJU-FRA flights are on A321 and A320, so they will probably rebook everyone via fra
ReplyDelete